


The Dispel Magic Incident

by castcharmperson (MagpieWords)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Emotions, Gen, Physical Trauma, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Scars, Team as Family, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, mild body horror, wonderland injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2019-11-24 06:41:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18162575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieWords/pseuds/castcharmperson
Summary: A glamour spell can only hide so much for so long.In which Angus McDonald is too good of a detective not to notice something, and secrets rarely last long with a family like this.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an amazing post by one-irrelevant-ghost on tumblr

Mid-August in Faerun is not exactly what Angus would call pleasant, but he was trying to enjoy the weather. In a few weeks, he’d be inside mostly, studying and hopefully making friends. But, Taako kept saying it was important to get refresh air, which seemed counterproductive when they were lounging in a pool and could only smell chlorine.

“Ango, you’re a quick learner, but I wouldn’t bet my house on it,” Taako said when Angus was sure he’d gotten the spell and asked if they could get out of the water. The elf was floating on a raft designed like a unicorn, wearing the board shorts Angus was pretty sure he was wearing in the memories everyone had seen of the Beach Year. It couldn’t be the same pair, must be part of the TaakoTM brand, or something.

“Again!” Taako shouted, holding up a piece of wood with a Mage Hand. Angus sighed, but aimed his wand at it and cast Scorching Ray. Flawlessly. For the third time today. He was going to run out of spell slots.

“Sir, can’t we learn something else?”

“We have all summer for that, kid, what’s your rush?”

“Summer’s over in two weeks, Taako.”

Taako leaned up, tilting his sunglasses down along the bridge of his nose. “And you think that nerd school is going to teach you more than I can?”

“I might have gone to your school if I thought otherwise.” Angus grinned.

“You little shit!” Taako threw his sunglasses off, but stayed on the raft. “Alright, think you’re so good, scorch through this!” Despite the cursing and the threats, he was grinning, like teaching Angus to shed away his manners had been Taako’s goal more than teaching him magic.

The ground shook and trees took root at the edge of the pool, twisting and creating a wood barrier between them. Angus cast, but the Scorching Ray had no effect, only making the branches shimmer. He squinted at the wood. Oh! Hallucinatory Terrain.

“Very clever, sir!” He called, hoping his voice could be heard around the barrier. Using a fourth level spell felt like cheating, but it gave Angus the perfect opportunity to try something he’d picked up from one of the textbooks Mr. Bluejeans had given him. Hopefully Taako would be impressed. “Watch this!”

Dispel Magic was easier to cast than he expected. It was similar to a lot of the spells he’d first learned with Taako, defensive and more somatic than verbal. The branches disappeared and the Mage Hand Taako was using to reach for his sunglasses poofed out of existence the glasses fell into the pool.

But then, something else was also dispelled. The way the sunlight shimmered along Taako’s golden hair had faded. In fact, Angus could see Taako’s dark roots, grown out longer than he expected under the blond. His freckles were less like stardust and more, well, like real freckles. There was a scar on his nose and another scar along his cheek. Bags under his eyes which were staring right at Angus with– oh gods, Taako knew what Angus had cast.

He expected anger, was prepared for screaming and Taako’s usual spitfire response to anyone ruining his look, but the raw fear he saw in Taako’s eyes was so much worse. Eyes that actually looked a little out of focus. He’d seen Lup wear prescription glasses, but never Taako. Angus wondered if the modified Disguise Self could make a change as complex as that.

It felt rude to look away, but the eye contact was unbearable for how long it had lasted. Only a second had pasted, Angus known that logically, but it felt like time was moving in slow motion. Besides, curiosity won out over manners.

Taako’s skin was still tan like before, but it wasn’t as even. Spots were darker or lighter, there was a clear line of difference where his usual sleeves were. Over his heart was a blur of scorched tissue, what Angus could only assume was a tattoo removed with magic. His forearms were littered with smaller marks, probably burns and cuts from his lifetime in the kitchen. What really caught Angus’s attention was the massive scar ran horizontally across Taako’s torso. Magic hadn’t healed it, magic wouldn’t leave a scar that spiderwebbed out like this, still discolored and cutting deep.

Angus felt queasy just looking at it. How did one even heal from a wound that powerful without help from a cleric? He couldn’t imagine the kind of pain Taako must have been through.

The worst was his legs. The surfer shorts didn’t do much to hide to hide the ugly scar tissue that seemed to cover every inch of skin. There were bruises that still seemed present around his knees and one part seemed dented? Like something had crushed them.

“Taako?” Angus looked back and Taako’s expression hadn’t changed. “What happened?”

Taako opened his mouth but no sound came out. He seemed frozen, even his whip sharp comebacks seemed to have nothing prepared for a situation like this.

“Hey nerds! Your favorite reaper made the best avocado toast this planar system has ever seen! Get out of the pool and–” Lup had stepped out of the house, her swimsuit glittering with bedazzled red flames that complimented the way her sheer red cloak billowed behind her. But all that motion stopped when she looked at Taako. “What–”

Before she could ask, Taako had tipped himself off of the unicorn raft. When he came up, his hair was wet but still shined in the sunlight. The scars were gone and his sunglasses, rescued from the bottom of the pool, covered his eyes.

“Lulu! Did I hear avocado toast? Fuckin’ finally, I haven’t had that since cycle 73! Come on, Agnes.” Taako swam over to Angus, hefting him out of the pool. As he did, he ground out a harsh whisper, “You will not tell my sister what you saw because you didn’t see a fucking thing. You don’t tell her, you don’t tell Kravitz, you definitely don’t tell Magnus or Merle. Understood?”

Angus was glad he was already out of the pool because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to hoist himself out with the way those words left him shaking.

“Understood, sir.”

“Good.”

“Taako, what was up with your legs?”

“Trick of the light, dear sister. You never get out of the astral plane enough, all that gloom and doom has left you blind. Now you said something about lunch?” He breezed past her, already Prestidigitating the water off of his body.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus is home for the holidays. Time to get some questions answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is so much dialogue in this.

The Winter Solstice was hardly the event of the season. It wasn’t a party like it’s twin, The Summer Solstice. Nor was it a bombastic celebration like Candlenights. The Winter Solstice was traditionally a day spent eating food and sitting around a bonfire. Angus was going to be home from school anyway, but the weeks leading up to the holiday were filled with letters from Magnus and more formal invitations on Taako’s Taako Brand TM stationary, insisting the entire family had to be home for the first Starblaster Extended Crew celebration of the Solstice.

When Angus arrived, he figured he shouldn’t be surprised that Magnus had converted the empty pool into a safe location for the bonfire. There must have been a small forest worth of chopped wood stacked in there.

“You want to do the honors, kid?” Lup had offered him once everyone had gathered together. “I’m told you’ve mastered Scorching Ray.” Ah, so she also hadn’t forgotten The Dispel Magic Incident, as he’d taken referring to it in his notes. They shared a look, but neither of them said anything. Instead, Angus cast the spell and the bonfire ignited. Magnus, Carey, and Killian cheered, while Taako brushed past everyone to get back inside to the kitchen.

“Taako! Can I help with dinner?” Angus asked, following him into the house.

“I don’t know, squirt, this is kind of a one elf job.” Taako wasn’t looking at him, busying himself with taking a roast out to thaw.

“Well that’s perfect, because I’m not an elf!”

Taako sighed, but didn’t shoo him away. He didn’t turn around either and Angus couldn’t get any new notes for this case if Taako wouldn’t look at him. His Insight mod was high, but not that high. “Besides, I’ve been gone for a while. I’m sure you’ve got new spells to teach me.”

That made Taako pause. They had both decidedly spent the last few days of summer pretending nothing had happened and, at that time, Angus was fine with that. But The World’s Greatest Detective could only wait so long before the need for answers weighed more than the need to keep the peace with his family.

Taako still wouldn’t turn around though. He gave a blunt laugh before gathering a few more dishes that had been frozen overnight. “So this is how we’re going to do this, huh?”

“Either like this, or I can cast Zone of Truth,” Angus offered, perhaps leaning too heavily into his ‘cheerily helpful’ disposition.

“Aglet,” Taako’s voice was sharp and so was his expression when finally turned to face Angus. He was still leaning back on the counter, faux casual, but his eyeshadow was a different color. The Disguise Self must have worn off- how did he recast it without Angus even noticing? “What part of ‘you didn’t see anything’ did you not understand?”

“The part where you’ve been hiding a limp all day.”

Taako scoffed and rolled his eyes.“I thought Magnus talked to you about doing this detective bullshit on the family.” Angus knew he was going to lose this lead unless he made a bigger move.

“It’s not bullshit when someone’s keeping secrets–”

“Watch your fucking language–”

“You’re the one who said no one was supposed to keep secrets anymore!” Angus hadn’t mean to raise his voice, wasn’t really aware that he’d done it until it was done. He never used to do that. He was pretty sure he had to increase his volume after spending as much time around a family that constantly talked over each other.

He heard the change before he felt the magic settle over the room. Before Angus became a wizard, he had a few different items that could cast Silence for him, but the spell had a different power behind it when cast by one of the most talented mages in the multiverse.

He was so distracted by the spell that he didn’t notice Taako walk across the kitchen until he was towering over Angus. The boy had grown a little, during his semester away, but not enough to really forget how much shorter he was than everyone except Merle and Davenport.

“I don’t know what game you’re trying to play, but I promise you, McDonald, you will lose.”

This lead was absolutely getting away from him. He needed to change tactics, try a different approach, maybe make good on his threat for Zone of Truth. His spell DC might be high enough, despite how charismatic Taako was. He was the World’s Greatest Detective, he could still crack this case.

Instead, he panicked. “Are you okay?”

That made Taako take a step back, nearly stumbling before grabbing onto the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “What?”

“I want to know what happened.” Angus took a bold step forward, but Taako only laughed, the same harsh sound he made first time Angus called him and the others on their horseshit back on the Rockport Limited.

“You’re barely ten years old, you don’t know what you want!”

“I’m twelve!”

“So I’ve got a whole year before you can start this teenage rebellion bullshit. Ango, this feast is not going to cook itself and I–”

Taako started to turn away. This was his last chance. “My parents died in the Relic Wars.”

If Taako had looked horrified when Angus saw his scars, if he’d been confused when Angus asked if he was okay, those were nothing compared to this. For a moment, he wondered if he’d stopped speaking Common, but any other language he could possibly know, he’s sure Taako would have understood.

“That. Um.” Taako’s left leg seemed to buckle for a second before he grabbed the back of the chair again. With a defeated sigh, he sat down. “I’m going to ruin dinner because of this.”

“Probably not, sir, you’re a very good chef.”

“Obviously,” Taako muttered, scrubbing a hand across his face. His make up didn’t smudge, but with a snap of his fingers, it was gone completely. His hair fell loose around his shoulders and his freckles stopped shimmering in imaginary starlight. “Fine, okay, let’s turn this into a teachable moment. Barry and Lup are liches, right?”

“Yes…” Angus wasn’t sure where this was going, but at least it was going somewhere. He pulled out another chair and sat down.

“You better pray Istus never fates you to meet any others. Others liches are what did this to me. And to Merle and to Magnus.”

The Wonderland mission had been a nightmare. Having the Reclaimers drop off the map, then Magnus not coming home. Merle had an eyepatch and Taako… With the chaos that followed, the literal end of the world, Angus hadn’t noticed anything different about Taako.

“I’m the worst detective,” he mumbled, but Taako put hand on his shoulder bringing him back to the present.

“Hey.” For the first time since Silence was cast, Taako didn’t seem angry with him anymore. “You are the best detective. World’s Greatest. How’d you get started with all that anyway?”

“Tried to find out what happened with my parents.”

“Bet Cresha didn’t make that easy for you.”

“No, she did not.” They shared a small laugh, though Angus assumed for different reasons. A non-magical silence lingered for a moment before Angus was able to look at Taako again. “Does it hurt?”

“Gotta be more specific than that, kiddo.” Taako stretched and Angus heard several joints pop.

“You face?”

“Physically, no.”

“Emotionally?”

“Uh-uh-uh!” Taako shook a finger so close to Angus’s face that he nearly went cross eyed. When he focused on Taako again, the elf was grinning. “I already let you slip two questions in on that turn. Don’t try to pull a fast one on a flip wizard. Taako’s turn now. Where’d you get that scar?” He pointed to the back of Angus’s hand.

“My grandfather stabbed me with a fork.”

Taako nearly choked, strained and genuine laugh squeezing through his throat. “The fuck? What did you do?”

“It was an accident. Where’d you get your scar?”

“Gotta be more specific. Why’d you ask me to teach you magic?”

Angus huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “You are not making this easy.”

“Didn’t say I would.” Taako mirrored his posture, smirking in a way that Angus found strangely comforting. “Answer my question.”

Angus shrugged. “What you did on the train was pretty cool.”

“Hey, am I bullshitting on my answers? No, I’m not. Do not make me cast Zone of Truth, young man.”

“You don’t have that spell.”

“Fuck you, ‘I don’t have that spell’. I’ve got whatever fucking spell I want.” Taako moved to stand, but seemed to think better of it and slouched back down. Angus still didn’t say anything. Taako, surprisingly, stayed quiet, waiting him out. All his detective training had prepared him pretty well for being on the other side of interrogations, but he found himself fidgeting in the silence after only a minute.

“Grandpa wasn’t… all there? I guess. You guys were the first people to… I don’t know.” For all the books Angus had read, not many of them offered a word for what that feeling had been. “I asked Magnus to teach me to fight, but he said I was too young. And, uh, Merle wasn’t…”

“Yeah, no, I remember how Merle was.”

“Was he not like that on the Starblaster?”

“You still haven’t answered my question, but I’ll give you a freebee.” Taako leaned back. He’d been paying pretty close attention when Angus was speaking, but now he seemed to focus on something off in the distance. “No, he wasn’t like that on the Starblaster. Was your grandpa mad when you didn’t bring the silverware?”

“He was dead before I got there.”

Taako’s attention slid back to him, but his posture stayed loose. “You don’t seem very upset about that.”

Angus shrugged. “What happened to your legs?”

“Washing machine fell on me.”

Angus tried not to react to that. It was surprisingly easy, mostly because the idea was so hard to imagine he couldn’t really react at all. He leaned back in his chair, mirroring Taako to the best of his ability despite his feet not reaching the floor. “You don’t seem very upset about that.”

“Oh trust me, I am. It’s just,” Taako barked out a laugh, “It’s so stupid? Like it didn’t even make any sense? This big dumb thing just fell on me out of nowhere!” He laughed again, shaking his head and staring at nothing again. “Do you miss your parents?”

“I didn’t really know them, so no, not really. Do you miss your home planet?”

Taako scoffed. “Definitely not. Why’d you go to Lucas’s shitty school?”

Angus thought about bullshitting an answer again. It would have been easy to say he’d already been enrolled in The Academy before Taako announced he was opening a school. And that wouldn’t even be a lie! It’s what had happened. But he could have talked to Lucas, could have found a way to transfer. He had considered doing so, but something had stopped him. That same feeling he didn’t really have a word for.

“Because I’m already in your school.”

Taako didn’t react at first, just blinking at nothing, but then he was blinking at Angus. He tilted his head, as if a different angle could help him better see through a lie that wasn’t there. Angus shrugged at Taako’s unasked question and Taako broke into a grin. “And that’s exactly what I want to hear from my favorite student.”

Angus found himself matching the smile, enjoying the unexpected success before he remembered why he started this game in the first place. “Why were you mad when I cast Dispel Magic?”

Taako shook his head. “Wasn’t mad. You scared the fuck outta me. Where’d you learn that spell?”

“Barry taught me.”

“Son of a bitch…”

Angus pressed on. “Do your legs hurt?”

Taako’s grin slid off his face, but he kept staring at Angus. There was something brighter about his eyes, focused like this and without the glamour. He was quiet for a long time before sighing and nodding a little. He looked down, at the way his legs draped out from the chair, unposed, as close to comfortable as it was possible to be in a kitchen chair. When he looked back at Angus, he seemed strangely determined.

“All the damn time.”

“Why don’t you tell anyone?”

Taako held up his index finger again, smile returned. “Uh-uh! Not your turn.” When Taako didn’t follow with a question, Angus tried not to get impatient. He really seemed to be thinking about it before leveling Angus was a surprisingly serious, but focused, expression. “Are you okay?”

Taako had asked him this question only twice before. The rest of the Birds asked him pretty often, but it was different when it came from Taako. When Lucretia asked Angus if he was okay, he expected it. She had brought an eleven-year-old onto a secret moonbase; she thought he was her responsibility, like the rest of the weight of the world was. Davenport asked because he was the Captain and Captains made sure their crew was okay. Magnus wore his heart on his sleeve, so did Lup and Barry. They asked in that familiar, comforting way. Merle was a cleric, he usually asked if Angus was okay in regards to exclusively physical matters.

For all Taako pretend to be “good out here,” to be an idiot wizard, that disguise was flimsy within minutes of Angus meeting him, much more so after all his memories returned. Despite Lucretia being his Boss and Davenport as the family’s Captain, Taako was his Mentor.

The first time Taako had asked if he was okay was after The Story and Song. He was standing on shaky legs after fighting for his life and struggling to focus on anything in front of him after a century was shoved into his mind. Taako had put a hand on his shoulder and the world held together just a little bit longer.

The second time Taako had asked if he was okay was the day after The Detect Magic Incident.

“Yes Taako. I’m okay.”

“Good.” Taako gave a small smile, before clapping his hands together and starting to stand. His grip on the back of the chair turned his knuckles white, but he was steady on his feet. He didn’t bother looking at Angus’s concerned expression. “And before you ask, no, it is not always this bad. Holiday had me on my feet a lot.”

“One last question?” Angus asked anyway.

Taako sighed, rolling not just his eyes but lolling his whole body in a put-upon motion. “Fiiine. But you’re peeling all the potatoes.”

“That’s fair.” Angus hopped out of his seat and Taako handed him the potato peeler. He got through the first one, letting Taako focus on seasoning the roast. “Why wont you tell anyone?”

Taako didn’t answer for a while, but Angus didn’t feel impatient anymore. He went through three more potatoes before Taako finally said, “They’re all…” He sighed, and Angus tried to look at him without turning his head, despite his glasses not clearing that part of his vision. Taako was making the sort of hand gesture he usually used when talking about his family. “Because they’re stupid.” He finally settled on that and Angus put down the potato peeler to put his hands on his hips.

“That’s a bullshit answer.”

“Well it’s true!”

Angus didn’t budge and Taako laughed. “Istus, you’d be adorable like that if I didn’t know you knew Zone of Truth. Okay, yeah. Cresha’s already a mess, I don’t really need to dunk more guilt on her because she is, in fact, the idiot who sent us there. Dav is… Dav, so he’s always weird about when we get hurt. Barry and Magnus and Merle were all there and– and Lup was too. They’re going to be weird about it.

“And it’s not like on the Starblaster where we’d get hurt but it was better next cycle. There is no next cycle. I’m going to be like this forever. And Krav, he hasn’t said anything about it yet, but I know he wants to see ‘the real me’ or whatever stupid sappy thing that you are too young to understand–”

“I’m twelve, I understand how basic decency works.”

“Shut up. And everyone is going to want it to be all the time and I don’t… I don’t want that.”

“You don’t have to tell everyone.”

Taako just shook his head. “You shouldn’t even know about this. No one was supposed to know.”

“I won’t tell anyone. But you should at least tell Lup.” He didn’t need a hundred years of memories in his head to know that, despite how close everyone on the Starblaster was, the twins were something else.

“I can’t tell Lup.”

Neither of them were sure when the Silence spell had worn off, or how long she’d been leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen when Lup chimed in. “Can’t tell Lup what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kind comments! if you're going to combust from the cliffhanger, you can find me on tumblr @ castcharmperson!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup was not a patient person. But things change, people change, and so did she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> perspective change! Lup's POV now! She's the best!!

This was her first winter on Faerun. Lup had sort of lost track of how many holidays their new home had, but that was fine. She got firewood with Magnus, decorated how Killian showed her, rolled around in the snow with Mookie just to feel how cold it was. She’d had her body for almost eight months now, but every sensation felt so new. 

_“I’m told you’ve mastered Scorching Ray.”_

She watched her brother retreat into the kitchen, Angus chasing after him. There were a lot of new things, she realized, when she couldn’t chase after him too.

Lup wasn’t stupid. Her brother was a world class liar but he couldn’t lie to her. At least, she thought he couldn’t. But everything was new and different now. The old Lup would have rushed in on that summer afternoon, pushed and prodded until Taako told her about every scar. The old Lup had never been as patient as Taako. He could hang back, wait years for the perfect opportunity if he had to, but Lup was made for action.

A decade in an umbrella had changed that. Now, she was patient.

Well, patient to a point. She waited while Angus left for school, waited while Taako got settled with his own school. She waited for months, had to be certain Taako wouldn’t bolt the first time she brought it up. She didn’t even bring it up today! Just hinted at it. She supposed it was foolish to hope he was forgetful in same way he had pretended she wasn’t perceptive.

So she had to wait. Again. That was fine, she tried to tell herself. The cheering had turned into drinking around the fire from the massive keg Merle and Davenport had brought, but Lup wasn’t really in the Solstice mood anymore. This wasn’t her tradition yet, still too new, just like everything else. Barry gave her a look as she passed by. She hoped her smile said enough, and it must have. He gave her a soft smile of his own, but didn’t follow her as she snuck in through the side of the house, not wanting to pass through the kitchen.

_“You’ve been hiding a limp all day.”_ Angus sounded confident, voice echoing through the empty house in the same way he talked about his successful cases with the Neverwinter PD. Lup had planned to curl up in bed, but this… this might be worth waiting to hear. Taako said something, but she was too far away to hear it. Then there was shouting.

_“It’s not bullshit when someone’s keeping secrets!”_

_“Watch your fucking language!”_

Then Silence, powerful arcane energy that stopped her midstep, just before the doorframe of the kitchen. She saw Taako and Angus keep talking, but she couldn’t read their lips. The tension her brother had been carrying all day seeped out of his shoulders. Whatever was happening in there, she needed to wait to see its end.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been waiting, but the spell started to crackle out of existence.

_“I don’t want that. You shouldn’t even know about this. No one was supposed to know.”_ Taako sounded just like he did when he told her everyone was dust.

_“You should at least tell Lup.”_ Angus said. Candlenights was late on the calendar this year, but Lup was buying this kid every Caleb Cleveland novel she could get her hands on. She’d kidnap the author and gift wrap them for Angus if she had to.

_“I can’t tell Lup.”_

A decade in an umbrella, a year of listening to her brother and not being able to say a thing; Lup had patience now, but only so much. Coming out from behind the door frame, she threw on a smirk she didn’t feel and finally rushed in.

She wasn’t really sure what she expected. Taako’s Dex mod used to be higher than hers and she was never really good at Stealth rolls anyway, so it was rare that she could surprise him. Even now, he didn’t jump, didn’t squawk and yell at her the way he used when she and Magnus could prank him. He froze and didn’t even look at her. He looked at Angus.

Lup thought she’d seen every emotion cross her twin’s face, the thousands of matching expressions they shared, but she’d never seen this. It wasn’t anger, wasn’t even surprise. He looked almost empty, filled with nothing but bone deep betrayal. She could almost see his “I trust no one and nothing except Angus McDonald” crumbling to dust in their kitchen and she felt sick.

“He didn’t know,” she said before thinking twice about it. There was a flicker of something and then the hallowed out look of loss was gone and Taako was smirking at her, make up perfect and a hand on his hip.

“Ooh, so you were eavesdropping?” He clicked his tongue a few times, shaking his head. “Davenport would be so disappointed you didn’t pay attention to his Boundaries In Close Quarters powerpoint from cycle seven.”

He was waiting for her to take the bait, to point out the only reason they had to watch the powerpoint that cycle was because of him. As the seconds dragged on though, she could see his smirk falter. The silence stretched further and she still couldn’t speak. Now was her moment, this is what she’d been waiting for! There was so much she needed to say and yet the only thing that came out of her mouth was a broken, “Taako.”

“Nope.” He turned right around, picking up a spoon and furiously stirring something.

“Sir, should I go…” Angus started but Taako just picked up the potato peeler and handed it to him without looking.

“You are staying right here and peeling those potatoes, Agnes.”

“Taako,” Lup tried to say something else but that’s all that could be said. She took a shaky step forward but her brother still wouldn’t look at her. “Taako, please, I know something’s going on.”

“Uh-uh. I am not doing this today, Lulu. I know you’re new to this planar system but this feast is– oof!” She nearly knocked Taako into the counter as she collided with him, wrapping her arms around him in a crushing hug. “Lulu…”

“You’re soft. Need soft.” She murmured into the back of his sweater. When she first got her body, they spent days like this. Taako let her feel every fabric he owned, his softest silk blouses and his most scuffed up leather boots. She ran her fingers through his hair for hours. There were still some nights when she’d sneak into his room, shove Kravitz out of the way, and hold him close just because she finally could. She hadn’t had a bad night like that in weeks, but maybe Taako forgot she was getting better.

“I can’t do this today, Lup.” He whispered, seeing right through her in a way she used to be able to do too. At least he didn’t push her off, slowly stirring whatever mixture he was working on for dinner. Angus had the peeler on a potato, but hadn’t moved.

“Tomorrow?” She asked.

In the silence that followed, she could truly see her brother again. Angus must have seen it too. He relaxed and got through two more potatoes as they both pretend not to watch Taako run the numbers. Could he fake a school emergency tomorrow? What were the odds she’d believe he had the flu? Maybe if he Blinked enough times in a row, she wouldn’t be able to follow him. Anything to get out of this conversation. He slumped a little and Lup tried not to laugh. He couldn’t avoid her forever, they both knew it. At least not everything was new and different.

“Fine,” Taako surrendered. “But I seriously have to get cooking.” She didn’t move. “Are you just going to hang off of me all day?”

“Maybe.”

Taako gave a full body sigh, shuffling them together through the kitchen to put something in the oven. Angus laughed and Lup was pretty sure she could feel Taako smile. “Fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is sort of a part one for what i've been referring to as the "Lup Section". Part two will hopefully be posted tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your kind words and your patience. Feel free to scream your questions and feelings at me on tumblr @ castcharmperson


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twin time doesn't go quite as expected

When Magnus had explained the Winter Solstice to her, Lup didn’t really get it. Now, sitting around the fire with her family, eating the food she watched her brother and his apprentice make, she understood. As eating turned into drinking, as Angus and half the crew fell asleep, she really understood. Kravitz had brought out his record player and Carey tried to teach everyone a holiday dance. The music swelled and she and Taako spun each other in circles. Lup had almost forgotten about the snow blanketing everything until they both crashed into it.

“Fuck! That’s cold!” Taako screeched, scrambling to get up before slipping back down again. His hands floundered, looking for something, before his eyes focused on Lup. She was already standing.

Merle, half slouched into his fifth or sixth glass for the night, loudly grumbled something about past midnight and “out of party points” before picking up an already sleeping Mookie and carried him inside.

“Can you believe that, Koko?” Lup held out a hand, waiting until she pulled Taako onto unsteady feet before saying, “It’s already tomorrow.”

Taako whined, drunk enough to not put up a fight, but not enough to forget how much he didn’t want to do this. Lup just laughed, hoisting him over her shoulder in a fireman carry. “Hey!”

“Lup,” Kravitz was trying not to laugh, watching his boyfriend flail about. “I can take him upstairs if you want to keep dancing.”

“Thanks Bone Boy, but it’s twin time. Catch you nerds in the morning!” There were a few scattered goodbyes that faded behind them as Lup carried Taako inside and up the stairs, dropping him onto her bed.

“What’s up with your legs?” She dropped down next to him with a bounce, keeping her tone light. Taako just rolled over and glared at her.

“There’s nothing wrong with my legs.”

“I didn’t ask what was wrong, I asked what was up.” She grinned and he cursed. “Come on, Taaks, I know Dispel Magic too.”

He sat up, matching her posture, and Lup expected more of a fight. Taako didn’t say anything, though, just looked at her. He looked so tired. For a split second, Lup almost wanted to wait until the morning for this conversation.

“Why can’t–” Taako started, but then he shook his head and couldn’t look at Lup anymore. “I don’t want to do this.”

Lup put her hand on his cheek and, thank the gods, he leaned into it. She wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, before Taako scooted closer to her. They shifted around, curling together until Taako rested his head on her shoulder. Their fingers laced together after, with a flick of her wrist, Lup dropped the lights to a few flickering candles.

“Didn’t have this on the ’blaster,” he whispered, stretching his legs out along the soft duvet of the massive bed.

“Yeah.” More silence, before Lup whispered. “What are you scared of?”

Taako scoffed, butting his head against her shoulder. “Fuck you, I’m not scared of anything.”

She rolled her eyes, but waited. He snuggled closer, squeezing her hand, but she stayed silent.

“Besides, it’s not like there’s anything you can do about it,” he said.

“Do about what?”

Taako didn’t seem to hear her. “They’re already dead. It doesn’t matter. There’s, like, nothing to do about it.”

“I mean, it kind of matters. Angus said something about you limping–”

“And I don’t even care!” Taako sat up, suddenly, and winced. “I’m fine with it, so no one else should give a shit.”

“You’re clearly not fine.”

“Look at me!” He gestured to his face. Despite all the drinking and dancing, not a hair was out of place. His lipstick looked like he just put it on. “Of course I’m fine!”

The old Lup would have shouted back at him, would have just cast Dispel Magic and finally gotten her questions answered. She opened her mouth, tempted to give in, but instead she pursed her lips and pointed to her own face. “I’m not fine.”

Taako deflated instantly, anger rushing out of him. “Lu…”

“No, shut up.” She moved her hand back to his cheek, guiding him to curl up with her again as she spoke. “I was in an umbrella for an eternity and now I see death crimes that haunt me. And I’m, like, a dimensionally famous death criminal, so you know that shit is fucked up. My captain won’t talk to my sister, my body is still new, I’m in a world I still don’t understand, and my brother has been lying to me. I am not fine.”

Taako tried to sit up again, but Lup held him down. It wasn’t much of a struggle. “I wasn’t lying to you.”

“You made the secret keeping rule.”

“That was for Cresha! Not me!” Again, she let her silence answer him. “Fuck, okay fine whatever. It’s not like my secret was hurting anyone. And you were keeping secrets too! I didn’t… I didn’t know you were still..”

“It’s not a secret,” Lup said, “I talk to Barry about it. And Cresha and Dav and Magnus and, I mean for fuck’s sake Taako, I talk to you about it all the time. I even talk to Kravitz about the death stuff and he’s a really good listener.”

“I’m not telling him about this.”

Patience, she reminded herself. That wasn’t a battle she could win right now, so she tried to say focused. “Every time we sat together, you and me out on the porch or that one time cleaning out the Starblaster, and I cried and you held me, _every time_. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I’m not… Lup, I’m not gonna– come on, I thought you didn’t buy into my whole spotlight stealing bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, you’re an absolute diva.”

He laughed and things felt a little lighter. They shifted again and Taako stretched his legs.

“There’s no spotlight right now,” Lup whispered. “It’s just me.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the problem.” Taako sighed and stretched again, twisting a little until something popped and he relaxed against her. Her arm was curled around him, his back pressed into her side. When they were little, they always faced each other. There weren’t many secrets to tell, but they whispered together, looking into the mirror of their own faces. She wondered if after a decade of having no one to look at, looking at nothing was easier for him.

“I miss the umbrastaff,” he continued unprompted and Lup jolted.

“What?”

“Fuck, no not like– you know not like that but–”

“Okay, but like, what?”

He squirmed around, trying to put his arms around her, but she pushed him off. They both fidgeted, starting and stopping as they moved, until they were lying down, heads together and feet dangling off opposite sides of the bed. He stared at the ceiling and Lup stared him.

“I know it was only a year but, before I got my memories back, it was the best year of my life. Everything that felt wrong about me suddenly felt right. And I think… I think the umbrastaff was part of that? And, Lulu, brand wise? It was absolutely the best! Easy to carry, dope as fuck spell focus, could lean on it whenever–”

“It’d probably help your legs.” She didn’t mean to rush in, but the way Taako froze, she knew she was right.

He opened his mouth and she was expecting to be told off. The way his brows knit together was just like every time he cussed out Merle for having his plants too close to the kitchen on the ship. But the expression faded away and Taako stared at the ceiling, face blank. “Yeah, actually, it would probably help my legs.”

“Do you want to start with those or start with your face?”

“I mean, it’s kind of a package deal.”

She bumped her shoulder into his and he gave a weak laugh. She felt a spark of arcane energy and scrambled to sit up, patience long gone. But his face was still glamoured, he’d simply transformed his leggings into pajama shorts. He didn’t bother sitting up, managing to look up at her, arching a brow. “It’s really not that exciting, Lu.”

“If you drag this out any longer, I’m going to cast it.”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else. Watching the spell fade away, she didn’t really notice much? His nose was a little thinner, eyes a little more sunken in, but it was the same face. He looked like he belonged on Faerun, less alien and more like the other elves she’d seen walking about Neverwinter.

“That’s what you were so worried about?”

Taako squawked and propped himself up on his elbows. “Fucking excuse you! I’m sorry my fucked up face isn’t shocking enough for you!”

“Oh please, you still look gorgeous.”

He blinked at her, brows knitted together in confusion. Those were a little thicker now too, like they both used to have before they came into money and then tweezers. She liked them that way. Since her body was tied to The Raven Queen, it didn’t change much anymore, but maybe she could pencil her eyebrows in to match his. “Lup,” Taako sounded annoyed, so she tried to focus. “I don’t look like you anymore.”

All this waiting and she was really ruining this whole moment, because at that? Lup had to laugh. “We haven’t looked the same since we were sixty! Are you kidding me?”

Taako tried to sit up, but gave up halfway through and collapsed back down, scrubbing his hands over his face. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I know it’s important to you.” She patted his leg and–

Lup had watched Taako exactly five times during the stolen century. Twice he died on an away mission she wasn’t on, and once with the judges they died at the same time. And four of those five times that she saw, she died with him. Explosions, arrows to the heart, that one time on that ice planet where they ran out of spell slots and froze to death. But on cycle fifty-three, he got hit with this blast of magic and Merle had already died in Parley. They’d managed to get him away from their attackers, but it was too late. It wasn’t a slow death, only a half hour, yet it felt like a lifetime. The agony on Taako’s face still frequented her nightmares. He’d shouted when he got hit, had this horrible gurgling sound like he was drowning when he tried to speak, and with his final breath, a tragic whimper that Lup would give anything to unhear. Through all of that, he never made a sound like this.

When Lup put her hand on Taako’s knee, he gasped like she’d stabbed him. She pulled her hand away and Taako was already curling up on himself. “Taako, fuck, I’m so sorry. Are you–”

“I’m fine, just don’t…” His eyes were squeezed shut as she laid down next to him, face next to his.

“You’re not fine. And that’s okay.”

“Lulu, can we not do that right now?”

“What do you need?”

“It’s not usually this bad.”

“What can I do?”

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

She knew he didn’t mean forever, she knew he was hurting, but those words burned. She sat back up, spine too straight, and scooted away from him. Taako’s breathing evened out and he eventually uncurled. His sweater had rode up and now Lup could see the rest of the ‘package deal’.

“What happened to you?”

Taako gave a strange laugh that rattled his whole body until he winced when something must have moved the wrong way. “Washing machine fell on me.”

“The fuck?”

He sighed and pulled the sweater down. Lup looked at the scars on his legs, hundreds of little ones and bruises all around his knees. “Where the fuck was Merle? Was this from when you were doing that cooking show?”

Another horrible laugh and Lup couldn’t stand it anymore. She put a hand over his mouth and Taako opened his eyes to look at her. “This isn’t funny,” she said. She waited another second, making sure he wouldn’t start cackling again, before leaning back and resuming her distant spot.

“I mean, it’s kind of funny?”

“No.”

“Lulu…”

“No! Why the fuck didn’t Merle heal you?”

Taako glanced to the door before looking back at her and shrugging. “He tried?”

_“Now, hold on just a second, what do you think you’re doing? There’s no healing in Wonderland.”_

The memory hit her like a freight train and she didn’t notice the fire in her hands until Taako was frantically patting out a burn on the duvet. She put out the flames and scrambled to hold his hand in hers, squeezing until her knuckles turned white, trying to remember how to feel anything that wasn’t those fucking curtains.

“Lup? Lup, come on, take a breath.” She wasn’t sure when Taako managed to sit up. Her eyes focused on him and he wasn’t wearing the glamour, which was soothing as much as it was strange. It was her brother’s face and also not. It was new. “Lup, you with me?”

She managed to speak, through the rage, through the pain, even though her voice was hoarse and everything was blurry. “I was there.”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for your patience! hope you enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry helps out and reminds Taako of what he already knows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry it's been an entire month orz

“Hey, I’m not usually invited to twin time is everything okay?” It was 50% his bedroom, but that didn’t encourage Barry to do anything other than peak his head around the partly cracked door. What he saw, well, that was enough to carry him past the threshold to close the door behind him.

“She’s not responding.” Taako sounded hollow, he didn’t look much better. They’d all had several sleepless nights, both on their voyage and afterwards. Still, it was rare for Taako to show how exhausted he truly was. The bags under his eyes were quite a sight and Barry tried not to think too much about elf vascular systems. Lup’s never got that bad, even when they pulled three all-nighters in a row for cycle 91.

Barry came back to the present and nodded, not needing to say anything more as he walked towards the bed. They’d done this before. It had been a while, but they knew what they were doing. The burns on the comforter spoke for themselves though. “That bad, huh?”

“You have no idea,” Taako mumbled. He was holding Lup’s hands and that was the only point of contact. Barry sat opposite of him and took one of Lup’s hands from him.

“Party was fun.” Usually Taako made conversation. Tonight seemed like it would be Barry’s responsibility. “I had, uh, one or two Solstices when I had a body, never really understood it though. Guess it’s different when you’re drinking alone in a tavern than when you’re drinking Highchurch brewed mead.” He let himself laugh, stopping only when he heard Taako whine. “Taako?”

“It’s my fault this time.”

“Bud, you’re the one who told me–”

“I know what I said, Barold!” Taako snapped. Barry didn’t even flinch, just reaching out and taking Taako’s free hand in his own. He squeezed and Taako squeezed back, so that was a step in the right direction. “You know what happened in Wonderland.”

“A lot happened in Wonderland.”

Taako rolled his eyes. “No shit. I mean with me.”

“Some of it? Your face doesn’t look too bad, ya know.”

Taako gave a strangled laugh and Lup whined, catching both of their attention. “Wow, she really doesn’t think this is funny.”

“Well,” Barry started, sharing a smile with Taako. He looked the most relaxed Barry had seen him all night.

“This is why you’re my favorite,” Taako looked away as he spoke, smile falling away slowly. “You can keep a secret, right?”

He should probably be concerned. Taako was the one who made the No Secrets Rule, but Barry found himself saying “Of course, bud” without thinking twice about it.

“It’s more than my face.”

“I know.”

“More than the, the uh… modifier stuff.”

“You can fix that, you know.” All the sacrifices had been hard to watch, but there was something particularly painful about watching Taako, the elf who invented something so dexterous as surfing, stumble from room to room after that.  
“No, uh, actually I don’t think so.”

“I know they had the no healing, what’s given can’t be taken back, thing.” All of Edward and Lydia’s schtick seemed so cliche to Barry. Everyone thought necromancers were sadist, why did they have to live the stereotype? At least they’d stayed away from black robes and chanting, but glitz and glitter didn’t really feel like an improvement.

Lup whined at his words and Barry winced, rubbing his thumb along the back of her palm. At least she could still hear them. “Sorry babe.” He looked back to Taako. “But, uh, I’ve been looking into that. I think if I rewire some of the– Oh, don’t tell Kravitz about this.”

Another strained laugh, the sort of manic emptiness Barry hadn’t heard from his best friend since the later cycles. “That goes both ways, kemosabe.”

“I thought you showed Kravitz your face?”

Instead of explaining, Taako just nodded his head down. It was hard to see in the candle light, much dimmer after what he imagined was a pretty extensive flare up from Lup, but the shape of bruises were still there. “…what?”

“Yeah.”

“No, no, that doesn’t make sense. Why do you have bruises from over a year ago? Your blood doesn’t work like that.” Barry probably should have asked first, honestly should be focusing on bringing Lup back to them, but curiosity won out. His hand left Taako’s and he reached towards the bruises, inches away until Taako slapped his hand back.

“I’m not one of your experiments.”

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t–”

“Don’t apologize, it’s fine.”

Barry sighed, but held out his hand, palm up. Taako slapped his own back into it. They sat in silence for a moment, a small circle of connection in the candlelight, and it was almost peaceful. Barry hated that this still happened, of course he did, but he sometimes wondered if the twins appreciated these moments together. Then again, Barry didn’t really appreciate them like he should have until they were stolen for a decade.

Taako wouldn’t look at him so Barry’s attention drifted back to Lup. Her ears twitched but she stared ahead at the wall, unfocused. “We should probably keep talking if we want to bring her back,” he whispered.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Both the twins ears flipped down and Barry tried not to laugh.

“Come on, Taako, I rolled an eleven, you have to tell me.”

“Bullshit you did!” Taako broke into a grin but it was chased away just as fast when he realized how loud he’d been. Lup didn’t seem to react to the noise. “Talking about it is what did this to her.”

“No, a bunch of bad luck–” Both twins winced and Barry bit back a curse. “Sorry. A lot of shitty coincidences did this to her. And other people, bad people, did this to her. Not you.”

Taako shook his head, but Barry was already saying the same thing each of them had all been tasked with saying before. “We didn’t cause this. We’re just trying to survive it.”

It was hard to watch Taako squeeze his eyes shut, easier to feel the pain of him squeezing Barry’s hand. It was like he was going to say something, but he couldn’t move his mouth past the first syllable.

“I mean, it’s not like she’s going to get worse,” Barry prompted, “You might as well talk about it now.”

“You might get worse,” Taako whispered and Barry squeezed his hand.

“Whether Lup believes it or not, she did everything she could to help you. So did I. I don’t regret that.”

Taako looked up at him, still so tired. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

It took a second to figure out what he meant, and Barry almost felt bad when he smiled and Taako glowered at him. “I don’t regret that either.”

“Look, I don’t want to make you feel bad but how–”

“At the time, it was our best shot at survival.” Barry pressed on. “I don’t regret making the Animus Bell. I haven’t for years.” He’d said that before, to himself in the mirror of the cave he had to call home. It was hard to say then, but once he did it felt like a weight off his shoulders. It felt important. And it still felt so good to say it again now.

“Yeah, well, I guess you had time to for all that self growth,” Taako grumbled and Barry tried not to roll his eyes. He felt Lup’s fingers twitch in his and failed to hold down a smile. Maybe the two of them had been lucky, of everyone dealing with Lucretia’s choice. It felt easy to forgive her. And it was frustrating watching everyone else drag their feet about it.

“I’m not mad at her either,” Barry continued, despite Taako’s clear irritation. “I never really was. She was doing what she thought was the only option. Just like me and Lup had our hands tied in Wonderland. We were all trying our best.”

He watched Taako grind his teeth, backed into a corner where he couldn’t hurt Lucretia without hurting everyone else too. It probably shouldn’t be entertaining but, well, Taako usually had the upper hand in all their interactions, it was nice to finally mark a tally in the win column for Barry.

“You’re a dick.”

“Yeah.” Barry just shrugged, absolutely unrepentant. “So you want to list your symptoms for me or should I just ask Merle? He gave me a list of stuff to work on for Magnus. His is a lot more mental, but the base arcana is still the same.”

Taako’s ears twitched and he looked down at his bruised knees. “I figured that’s why they still look so bad. Merle tried to heal me but the…” He swallowed heavily, like the thought alone was bile in his mouth. “The un-healing I think left some necrotic scarring.”

“That would do it.” Barry gently loosened his grip from Taako’s hand and hovered over the knee. “May I?”

“Yeah just don’t… it’s acting up because of the holiday.”

“I’m amazed you were dancing on it,” Barry said as he checked the arcana. Taako’s proficiency in the category was high, of course, but Barry was a necromancy expert.

“It’s probably what made it hurt so much when Lup touched it. It’s never been this bad before.”

Barry frowned, staring at the runes he could see around the wound, running the numbers in his head. “It’ll get worse if you don’t take it easy.”

“What?”

“You’re right about the necrotic scarring. It’s completely preventing any healing, even the minor stuff our bodies do to recover from day to day wear. Your own system has… I guess the only word is absorbed the magic? The damage is really in there.”

Taako just shrugged. “Told ya you couldn’t fix it.”

Barry felt frustration prickle under his skin. With the blessing of his Queen, he wasn’t prone to fits of red crackling energy, but the wild magic the made his soul was still more volatile than most. “I can still help. But I might have had a better shot if you told someone about it sooner.”

Taako gestured to Lup, making a face like Barry was an idiot, and that only irritated him more. “She’s going to be fine, Taako. If anything, she’s mostly going to be pissed you lied to her.”

“I didn’t lie to anyone!”

“What are you other symptoms?” Barry challenged and Taako nearly snarled at him. “How can Merle and I start working on treatment if we don’t know what we’re treating?”

“You told me you weren’t going to tell anyone about this.”

That threw Barry for a loop and he felt the tremor in his fingertips ease up. “Merle doesn’t know?”

They had all been close on the Starblaster. In different small groups, shuffled in different combinations, each with their own jokes and special moments, though most stories connected everyone together. After the Bureau of Balance, Barry had assumed ‘Tres Horny Boys’ still shared that unique connection.

“Barry,” Taako took his hand back and squeezed lightly. “You can’t tell them.”

“You made the secret keeping rule,” he tried but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

“I know what I said.” Taako broke their gaze and took a deep breath. “It’s mostly just my legs. They took the weight of the washing machine and I think the brunt of the Dex loss. Everything else isn’t really important. My face sucks but it’s– I mean Lup’s right. We still look related. I mostly just keep it up because I don’t want people poking around asking questions like you idiots.” Barry smiled and Taako managed to look up at him, relaxing again. His smile faded away but he kept looking at Barry “When you said it’ll get worse…” he trailed off, fingers twitching in Barry’s grip.

“Taako, I’m not a healer–”

“Necromancy is just late healing,” Lup’s voice was gravel, but sounded like a siren’s call to Barry. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, but her eyes stayed foggy. He watched Taako’s leg started bouncing, fighting down the urge both of them struggled with to tackle Lup in a hug when she came back. These quiet moments of comfort used to be just messy piles of cuddling back on the Starblaster. They were still like that when Barry was the one having a bad day. But after the umbrella, after a hundred things Taako still wont talk about, too much touch could be overwhelming. So they squeezed Lup’s hands and she squeezed back. That was enough for now.

“Welcome back,” Barry whispered and she smiled.

“Thanks. I think we’re getting better at this.”

Taako barked a laugh and Lup broke her hand from his to punch his shoulder. She didn’t need to look at him for her aim to be true. “Ow! I was only gonna say that we might be better if Barry and I didn’t spend the whole time fighting.”

“We weren’t fighting, we were discussing.”

Taako just rolled his eyes, taking his hand away from Barry to rub at his shoulder.

“Barry’s right though,” Lup continued, still staring ahead. “The three of us are the best arcanist in the multiverse, but our biological knowledge is pretty limited.”

“I don’t know if I’d trust Merle’s biological knowledge,” Taako grumbled.

“Even if you did, you’re worried about telling him.”

“Oh, now you get an insight modifier, huh Barold? Fuck off.”

Barry just sighed and reached for Taako’s hands. He put one back in Lup’s and took the other in his own. “I’m not trying to put you on blast. You’ve got a good point. Merle’s losses were mostly physical, like yours. I don’t know what he’s deal with. But I think I know who does.”

“Nooo.” Taako whined in a way that meant he knew exactly who Barry was talking about. He tilted his head back, then his whole body, leaning his weight to pull at everyone’s arms. Lup started leaning with him, but pulled herself back up. She blinked once, twice, and finally shifted her gaze to Barry. She pushed forward, letting Taako bobble behind her, as she kissed Barry on the cheek.

“See, Lup agrees with me. You gotta tell Cap’nport.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s the captain. He’ll know what to do.”

He watched the emotions play out over Taako’s face and mentally took a second tally in the Barry win column. “Fine,” Taako admitted. “But not today.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s tomorrow,” Barry shrugged and Lup laughed, kissing him again.

“I hate both of you. I’m not doing this until after Candlenights.”

Lup started stretching out her stiff limbs, squeaking as blood rushed back into her legs, numb from sitting crossed for so long. Taako did the same, moving to stand. Barry watched Lup almost reach for him, but she let him go. It hurt to hear his joints crack, now that Barry knew how damaged they were, but Taako seemed at ease. Lighter, maybe, finally getting the weight of the words off his chest. Barry still couldn’t believe he went that long without telling Lup. She seemed to realize that too, curling up against him as the door closed behind Taako and muttering something about hypocrites and grudges. There wasn’t much point to getting under the covers– Lup was still running hot from her flare up. Barry was just happy to hold her, to be grateful she was still here and whole. All of them were a little different than before, but they weren’t broken, weren’t missing pieces like he heard terrified whispers of during late nights on the porch. They were different, but they were still together. Still whole. Still surviving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw i love Barry so so so much. and i love all of you for your continued kindness and patience.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Davenport!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy ~~i cannot believe i forgot to post the davenport chapter here. Sorry!~~

Mornings were the only time this house was quiet. The Starblaster had been quiet usually just after lunch, mornings busy with preparation for whatever the day held. But here, in the house his crew had made for themselves, even the lazy time after lunch was filled with noise. Spells or shouting, occasionally the bark of dogs, there was always someone coming or going or something to do.

But mornings, well, his crew deserved to sleep in after all they’d done. Davenport couldn’t, even in what was supposed to be his retirement. His body was still too regimented. Not that he minded; the quiet was nice while it lasted.

So when a flyer was slapped in front of his coffee mug, Davenport wasn’t surprised. But he was retired and, regimented or not, he wasn’t looking at anything until he finished his drink. He refused to care which twin was demanding his attention, as they kept pushing the paper under his nose.

“Come on, Cap’n, it’s a big week! Memorize that schedule!” Ah, so it was Taako then. The forced cheer in his voice was something to look into, but not now. Davenport wasn’t awake enough for that yet, and despite ignoring the flyer, he already knew they had a big Candlenights’ week ahead of them. There was a formal gala in Neverwinter tonight, the speech for which Davenport wrote before he even docked his boat, and another event in Goldcliff tomorrow. Parties from Merle’s bar to Raven’s Roost littered the rest of the week, ending with one final massive celebration here.

They were saving gifts for the eighth day, so Davenport figured he could stay that long. Maybe he’d stay until Angus went back to school. How their crew adopted a child, he would never understand. Half of them were still children themselves, Magnus and Lucre–

He tried not to crack the empty mug when he put it in the sink a little harder than he should have. Might as well get this over with.

“I’d say that was a successful Candlenights,” Taako mumbled, a week later. He was curled around the literal Grim Reaper, something Davenport didn’t have the brain power to continue to be baffled by, since he felt as hungover as Taako sounded.

“It ain’t over yet!” Lup cheered and the remaining mortals of the crew groaned at the noise. She was unfazed, plucking out packages from under the dimly glowing Candlenights bush and tossing them towards whatever name was scrawled across their tags. It wasn’t long until the living room transformed into a sea of crumpled wrapping paper and emptied boxes.

“I thought we fuckin’ talked about this!” Merle laughed, gesturing to Angus, who was surrounded with five copies of the latest Caleb Cleveland novel. The boy didn’t seem to mind, chattering with Mavis about having copies to lend to his friends. Lup had already put on the “Liches Get Kisses” shirt Davenport had gotten her, trying to convince Barry to stop cleaning up and wear his matching shirt with her. Mookie jumped into whatever attempt at cleaning had been started, as though it were a pile of leaves in autumn.

It felt right, seeing his family enjoying themselves like this. Strange, but right, like the universe had been shifted just a degree to the left this whole time and had finally clicked into place. Davenport wondered if he could stay here forever, laughing with them.

“Thank you,” Lucretia whispered, sitting in an armchair to his left, and Davenport was suddenly reminded that he definitely needed more coffee. That he definitely wasn’t going to stay on shore forever. She was clutching the ship in a bottle he’d given her like it was more precious than any of her journals, but Davenport didn’t respond. He kept his eyes forward, hopped off the couch, and walked right past her. She didn’t follow.

“I just don’t get it. Lup was really insistent about it.” Magnus and Taako were sitting together, voices low. Or at least, low for Magnus. He was gathering a collection of wrapping paper into a trash bag, and Taako seemed to be ‘supervising’. The hand carved umbrella was sitting in his lap, the odd gift from Lup and Magnus. “I thought the two of you would never look at another umbrella again.”

“It was probably a joke. Lup’s weird like that.”

“She asked for the sturdiest oak I had. We had to make an extra trip to Raven’s Roost for it. Not that I mind but it seemed pretty elaborate for a joke.”

“What do you want me to say, Mags?” Taako’s voice was strained, the same nervousness Davenport heard a week before. “It’s a great gift, I like it. Would you stop bugging me about it?”

The couch shifted and Taako was standing, walking past Davenport without seeming to notice him as he went upstairs. Magnus didn’t follow, neither did Davenport, though both of them wanted to.

Being retired had several drawbacks, Davenport was realizing. He definitely couldn’t leave until he figured out what was going on– not just with Taako, but both twins and Barry seemed more squirrelly than usual. When they were on the Starblaster, he was fine with waiting. Secrets were hard to keep for very long when they all lived so close. Now though, he might be halfway around the world by the time someone felt comfortable enough to talk. If he has to wait around long enough for this crew to have an emotionally vulnerable conversation, he might as well burn his boat.

So in the quiet of the next morning, he was in no rush as he prepared his coffee. It wasn’t long before whispering started, just outside the kitchen, and Davenport grinned into his mug. If those three were at least talking to each other, it was a push in the right direction.

Literally, in this case, as Taako nearly fell into the kitchen. The strange gift caught him, his knuckles turning white as they gripped the wooden handle and the tip of the umbrella scrapped against the tile floor. “Yeah! Great idea! Fucking push me, after we just–” Taako stopped shouting with a wince, turning to look at who they pushed him into before glaring back at the door to the kitchen. Davenport tilted his head just enough to see Lup and Barry give Taako a thumbs up before darting away.

Taako turned back to Davenport, squinting at him with the kind of focus he gave to any particularly challenging transmutation requests. Curious, calculating, with a glimmer of determination. All that melted away and Taako sighed, collapsing bonelessly into the chair across from Davenport.

For a while, he just kept his eyes closed. Davenport watched, between sips of his coffee, as Taako intentionally slowed down his breathing until he opened his eyes to meet Davenport’s gaze. He didn’t mean to turn it into a staring contest, but Taako sat forward, staring more intently now, biting back to the edge of a grin. He blinked first though, everyone in the crew always did, immediately huffing out a laugh at himself and leaning back in the chair. Less boneless from exhaustion now, more boneless in the way the twins seemed able to turn themselves from solid to liquid at will.

Just to really rub it in, Davenport continued to stare at him, unblinking, for another thirty seconds. That sent Taako into a fit of giggles and only then did Davenport blink, letting a soft smile smooth across his previously blank expression. Taako quieted down, but kept smiling. Not the performer’s grin Davenport had seen all week, but the smile he gave when Lucretia used to bring them cucumber sandwiches after they all spent too long in the labs. Davenport was pretty sure that it was a smile Taako expected no one to have seen.

The joyful look faded away, whatever Taako had been sent in here to discuss coming back to the forefront of his mind. He broke eye contact, glancing down at the new umbrastaff he was still clutching. There was the sharp smell of magic, just for a second, before it drifted away like mist, then Taako was looking at him again.

Davenport had more than a lifetime to memorize his crew, but even that didn’t spare him from the power of the Voidfish. When Taako, Merle, and Magnus walked into the Bureau of Balance, Davenport couldn’t recognize them. He couldn’t express it at the time, and he maybe still couldn’t really find the words to explain it now, but the arcane energy around them was familiar, even if their faces were just static.

So when Taako came back from their final mission, when the Hunger became a story to tell around campfires, Davenport could sense the energy lingering on his crew. It was stronger now. Their connections to each other had once powered the bond engine, and now the bond engine had returned that gift. The seven of them, and all those that they’d brought into their strange little family, were vibrant with that arcana, especially to Davenport, who’d dedicated his life to the study of that magic.

Illusion magic had been a hobby before the Starblaster. With a century of time on his hands, and the rest of the wizards in his crew already having claim to the other schools of magic, Davenport could sense the shifts in that arcana too, even if he couldn’t see them.

When Taako came back from their last mission, it wasn’t just bond energy on him. The dropping of this altered Disguise Self spell wasn’t really shocking to Davenport. The results weren’t either– this face was more familiar than the static had been. He could see why Taako was upset though, could see that Taako had been upset, rather recently if the smudged mascara and deep bags under his eyes were anything to go by.

At the end of it all, though, the face was the same. Tired, curious, determined. Davenport held his gaze, and nodded. Taako laughed, softly, like that was funny in a way he hadn’t expected and couldn’t explain. He stood up, rather suddenly, but Davenport wasn’t confused for long. He let out a low whistle, didn’t need to roll a high arcana check to know scarring like that was the least pleasant kind of dark magic. Taako rolled his eyes, leaning on the umbrastaff, trying for casual and missing it by just a few inches.

Davenport was up now too, moving around Taako before he really realized what he was doing. Taako rolled his eyes again, whole body moving with him, but he didn’t walk away. Just let Davenport check him over, like this was just another mission as they sped through the stars. It didn’t matter that they’d stopped running, Davenport was still his Captain.

“So I’m pretty sure it’s scurvy,” Taako broke the silence and Davenport, satisfied that Taako wasn’t about to immediately keel over, burst out with a deep laugh that nearly knocked him off his own feet. He sat back down and Taako joined him, twisting his wrist to transmute his shorts back to long, soft flannel.

“But…” he started again, trailing off. Davenport watched a few different emotions play across this almost familiar face, each half-formed before flowing into the next. Nervousness of a few different kinds, for probably a few hundred reasons, finally settled into a sheepish play at determination. New face or not, the twins were still exactly the same. “I think I’d like for Merle to look at it?”

Davenport nodded, reaching for his coffee before realizing the mug was empty. When he looked back at Taako, his expression had twisted back up with a fake smile and too wide eyes.

“How is Merle doing?” He asked, laughing to try and elevate the weight of the words. Davenport leveled Taako with another unblinking expression, not as neutral as before, brow arching when Taako still didn’t cave. It took longer than Davenport would have liked, but Taako eventually slouched over.

“He doesn’t know. I haven’t told him.” There was a sharp scraping sound that made them both jump, before Taako lifted the wooden umbrastaff and placed it carefully on the table. He glanced down, but Davenport was sure whatever scuff he’d made against the tile would come off with half a cantrip.

When Taako looked back at him, still rattled from the noise or the confession, Davenport sighed. “We’re family, Taako. Ten years doesn’t change that. We always know, even if we don’t know exactly what it is or how we know it.”

Taako looked away, fingers twitching along the handle of his spell focus. “It was that obvious, huh?”

“No, your magic is good. You learned from the best after all.” Davenport grinned and Taako managed to do so as well. He let the moment linger before he got up to refill his coffee mug. “If you want to know how Merle’s doing,” he said, not looking back. He already knew how Taako would respond to this. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Taako groaned, loud and over dramatic and predictable. When Davenport turned around, the elf’s face was pressed against the table.

“Am I wrong?”

“No,” Taako whined.

Silence spread over the kitchen again. It had been comfortable before, and it still was now, but it felt lighter. After some time, Davenport wasn’t really sure how long, Taako peeled himself off the table and prepared what smelled like oolong. Davenport raised an eyebrow and Taako just flapped a hand at him. A story for another time.

The silence was punctured by Taako slurping at the last dregs of his tea. Davenport realized his own coffee had gone cold. He wasn’t surprised he’d lost track of time, another side effect of the last decade, but he was trying not to let it bother him as much.

“Lup wants you to talk to Cresha.”

Davenport wasn’t exactly sure what face he pulled, but Taako huffed a laugh at it. So much for not letting it bother him. “Look, Cap, I agree. I’m just saying.”

“And why isn’t Lup telling me this herself?”

Taako opened his mouth but seemed to realize he didn’t have an answer. He ticked through the same emotions he came in here with. Curiosity, frustration, grim determination. Davenport didn’t need him to say whatever answer he’d come to.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he offered and Taako nodded.

It seemed like he had something more to say, but he didn’t open his mouth again. Instead, he stretched out his legs and took the umbrastaff off the table. It’s point clicked a single, clear note against the floor as he stood. He didn’t immediately leave. Davenport realized, dully, that he wasn’t going to be able to leave either. The itch to explore was deep in his bones, back with a vengeance after so many years dormant, but the world would still be waiting for him in a few more days. Weeks, maybe. The least Davenport could do was take his own advice.

He reached a hand out, gripping Taako’s wrist. There was only a moment of confusion on his expression before Taako placed his own hand on Davenport’s outstretched arm. He seemed sturdy, comfortable in this kitchen he and Lup had crafted together. With only the faintest squeeze around his wrist, Davenport loosened his grip and Taako did the same.

More sharp, focused clicks from the umbrastaff against the tile and Taako was gone. It was nearly noon though, so the lingering silence was short lived.

“So how’d it go?” Lup’s voice rang through the house.

“For fate’s sake, I’m surprised you didn’t listen to the whole damn thing!” Taako shouted back. There was more yelling, the clatter of things falling, spells being cast. A chaotic, unquiet home was exactly what Davenport had forgotten he loved.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Merle, can I borrow you to do your fuckin’ job for a second?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day! Because scheduled updates are for lawful alignments and that ain't me!

The furious clicking of the new umbrastaff was similar enough to the old umbrastaff, so Merle didn’t even flinch when it was replaced with shouting. “Where the fuck have you been?!” 

Davenport snickered across the table from him and Merle couldn’t help but join him. “Taako, I’ve been in here all afternoon.” He was sure whatever Taako was upset about was important, but honestly he had a really good hand right now that he’d love to finish.

“I blame you for this,” Taako glared at Davenport and the Captain just laughed more. “Merle, can I borrow you to do your fuckin’ job for a second?”

“We only need a few more minutes to wrap up this game.”

“Oh my gods, fine!” Taako pulled out a third chair and dropped down into it. “Cap’n’s going to win.”

“You don’t know that…” Merle muttered, but he was probably right. He couldn’t remember the last time Taako had joined in a game of cards, let alone just sat and watched the two of them play. Of course Merle thought their games were interesting, two masterminds battling it out, but none of the crew usually agreed with him.

He threw the game. Davenport knew it, Taako did too, but Merle couldn’t really care less. “Next time, Dav.”

“Of course, Merle.” Their Captain looked at Taako for a moment, then left the kitchen.

“This really isn’t the best place to do this…” Taako had leaned his body back, tilting the chair dangerously as Davenport left. The house was still full of people, some packing after a long week of Candlenights, but Merle was sure the majority of them were going to be here for the foreseeable future. It was nice that Dav was staying as long as he had been.

“What exactly are we doing, Taako?” Merle didn’t bother beating around the bush. He wouldn’t be aggressive with any bush, for that matter. He knew Taako would rather dance around the subject, but if it was cards watching serious, Taako must be in a hurry too.

He still wouldn’t look at him, though. The chair was back on four legs but Taako was focused on the door. “Hey, Barrold!”

“Hm?” Barry walked back from halfway down the hall until he could poke his head through the kitchen door. His eyes shifted between the two of them before his eyebrows shot into his receding hairline. Merle had thought for sure that the pack bond or whatever with the Raven Queen would fix that. He’d picked his god for the looks, among other things. He was surprised Barry hadn’t developed the deadly cheekbones Kravitz seemed blessed with.

“Oh.” Barry seemed to know what was going on.

“Yeah. We need a lift to my office.”

“I can do that.”

“Okay hold on.” Merle held up his hands. “The last time you two needed me to do something, I was getting stabbed with forks.”

Barry rolled his eyes but Taako nodded. “No, no, the old man has a point.” At least one of these kids had sense. Taako looked up from where he’d been focused on the umbrastaff, still in his grip. Oh shit, this really was important. Merle sat up a little straighter, missing the gleam in Taako’s eyes of a goof on the horizon. “Merle, I know you’ve literally never done this before, but we need you to pretend to be a cleric.”

Merle huffed, sliding off the chair. “Ha ha, very funny. Now what is going on.”

Barry had already carved open a rip between the planes and Merle was walking through it. The Astral Plane, if this one was anything like what they’d studied back at the IPRE, was technically closer to the Celestial Plane than the Prime Material was. Geographically speaking, he should feel closer to Pan. Maybe this reality was different than their homeworld’s, maybe not, but Merle never really liked the Astral Plane. The crisp chill from walking across it lingered, long after the portal closed. At least Kravitz didn’t have death radiating off of him like this, despite being Death.

“Not that I don’t love spending time with Barry, but why isn’t your boyfriend plane-hopping with you?” Merle asked as the portal closed up and Taako pushed aside a few papers on his desk. He nearly dropped something, before aiming the umbrastaff at the office door and Mage Handing it closed. “Pan damnit, if you two wanted more blood, you really didn’t have to kidnap me.”

“I don’t want your fucking blood!” Taako snapped, but Barry put a hand on his shoulder. The scythe was gone, just their regular goth boy in denim, looking more grim than he ever did when he told Merle about his work. Taako placed his hand over Barry’s, squeezing once, before pushing him off. He took a deep breath. “Merle, you remember Wonderland, right?”

“Been trying not to.” The words slipped out before he could think twice about them. But it was true! That quest was easily their worst. Sure, Pan’s radio silence wasn’t caused by the liches, but Merle didn’t know that at the time. And everyone can say what they want about his healing abilities but…

At the end of the day, they were all alive. That’s what mattered, that’s what he tried to remember. It was a little hard, knowing they all got their memories back and Magnus still had some missing. Aside from that though, they didn’t lose too much. Right?

Merle hadn’t even realized he’d glanced down at his feet, face twisted in frustration before intentionally smoothing back out again, until he looked back up at Taako.

He’d meant it when he offered to take the extra spin for Taako. He really wished one of them had followed through; Magnus could have afforded to lose another finger since he got his whole body back anyway.

Taako looked fine, better than that if Merle’s being honest. What had Taako said, looking better than ninety percent of Faerun? It was true, still was. But he’d be very plain if they’d gone back to their original plane. The difference was significant, now that Merle could compare him to Lup.

“I can’t–”

“Not that.” Taako stepped around from the desk. Ah, shorts and a crop top in winter made a lot more sense now. Not that Merle knew much about winter fashion– it was always shorts weather back at Merlegaritaville.

“Those do not look good.” He stepped closer and Taako met him half way, Barry right behind him.

“I promise you, they feel worse.” That would explain the new umbrastaff. Merle looked at Barry. Of course Taako told Lup, but why did Barry know first? It wasn’t like they could kill Taako and bring him back with a new body. Who else knew?

“Okay, could you not with the face? I’m sure you can do your cleric shit with my spell still up, this is a courtesy.”

“It would be a lot harder without a visual reference,” Barry tried, but Merle had heard enough.

“Don’t tell me how to do my job.” He held his soulwood arm to the gash across Taako’s stomach and the budding leaves curled backwards. “Any issues with this one?”

“Uuh, dex mostly. Loss of appetite? That could be from other stuff though.”

Barry made an inquisitive noise at that, which made Merle feel at least a little bit better. Taako had talked to him about that already. Merle let the two of them go on whatever half spoken face journey they were going on, and focused on the biggest wound at hand. The knees were important, but this one was near vital organs. Merle had seen first hand how many hit points this had knocked out and it somehow managed to look worse than it did before.

“Barry and I figured it’s necrotic scarring.” Taako rushed out, Barry grumbling something beside him.

“Yeah,” Merle nodded softly. What he was finding aligned with that. He took a step back, able to look Taako in the eye without craning his neck. “I’m not death domain, Taako. I can’t reverse this. We could try to find a cleric who is–”

“They wouldn’t have a hundred cycles of experience. I’m not interested in letting them look at this.”

Huh. Merle didn’t bother to fight down the smile pulling at the edges of his beard. Taako didn’t return it by any means, but he scoffed and rolled his eyes, which Merle knew was basically the same thing.

“Merle, I…” Barry started, fidgeting with nothing for a moment. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m worried he’s getting worse.”

Just based on what he was seeing, what he knew of the wounds, that sounded right. But Merle looked to Taako instead. He seemed occupied fixing the hem of his shirt, fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeves. He didn’t notice the silence right away. When he did, he frowned. “What?”

“Has it been getting worse?” Merle asked.

If it had been literally any other conversation, Merle could have laughed at the face Taako pulled. Even with how serious he knew this conversation was, he was still tempted. Taako shifted his weight, leaning back slightly on the umbrastaff like he used to.

“It’s… uh…” His eyes seemed to go unfocused for a moment, as he stared at Merle. Merle knew that look from a copy he was familiar with over his own face. Seeing two versions of the same person, one you shared a century with and the other was your strange adventuring buddy.

Sometimes it was easier when they were just three idiots running around collecting magical items and laughing together as they nearly avoided death.

The person he was, when he met Taako the second time, was not someone Taako would trust with this confession. Merle wasn’t proud of that, but it was what it was. All he could do was take a deep breath and wait for which version of him Taako saw today.

Instead, Taako closed his eyes. They were screwed up tight, like if he couldn’t see, no one would hear his confession. “It’s worse. I didn’t have trouble walking a year ago.”

“Alright, glad we’re on the same page.” Taako opened one eye, glaring at Merle without much heat, but Merle continued. “And I’m glad you’re not waiting another year to tell me because this thing is going to kill you.”

Barry blanched at that, though Merle didn’t really understand his shock. The guy was a necromancer, this was how that arcana worked. Hell, he made the dang Bell, didn’t he know what it did?

Taako opened both eyes, expression blank for a moment until he moved the umbrastaff in front of him and leaning forward. His stance, his voice, his face, all of it was more certain and serious that Merle had heard in a while. “I don’t want to die.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfact: the idea of 'watching' a card game being sort of significant is a tradition I took from my own family. You have no idea how much my sister and I were screaming when Clint decided to bring euchre (aka Yooker) into TAZ.
> 
> Thank you all for your kind words and your patience!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the Tres Horny Boys to go on an adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever... share the same phobia as Travis... but write a giant spider into your fanfiction anyway... then both you and Magnus have a bad time? Wild. I've made some choices with this one.
> 
> Other than that and Merle being weird with a plant for three seconds, please enjoy this chapter! tbh, sometimes the pacing felt a little weird to me, but my intent was to match Magnus's 'fighter style' line of thinking, which I feel is more action based and choppy than I usually write (same way the Merle chapter had more winding tangents and the Davenport chapter had limited dialogue) so sorry in advance if it's not an amazing choice.

“I change my mind, death would absolutely be better than this. Kravitz! Get in here and reap me!” Taako’s voice carried through the house. Kravitz was sitting next to Magnus in the living room and didn’t bother to look up from the ancient tomb he was reading.

“You’ll be fine, dear!”

“You don’t know that!”

Magnus sighed. “I’m going to go check on him.”

Kravitz shrugged as Magnus went into the formal dining room. Taako and Lup rarely had them eat here, but Magnus liked it. He carved the massive table, one of his first projects when he heard the twins were buying a house.

It was usually cluttered in papers from The Reaper Squad, but all that had been pushed to the side and Taako was lying on top of it.

“Would ya stop squirming? This isn’t easy!” Merle was standing on a chair, soulwood arm glowing as he performed some sort of ritual. Everything abruptly stopped as Taako sat up.

“Hey big guy.” There was a question in his voice, but Magnus couldn’t figure out what he was asking.

Merle sighed, the light fading from his arm. “Magnus, you came at a good time.”

“I did?”

“We need another ingredient–”

“We do?” Taako looked a half second away from a rant.

“And it’s about a day away. Shouldn’t be too tricky to get, but we could use some muscle.”

Taako absolutely glowered at Merle, but the cleric didn’t flinch. The tension dragged out between them, until Taako threw up his hands in surrender. “Fine! Yeah, Mags, we need ya. Tres Horny Boys are going on an adventure, I guess.”

* * *

They were packed and ready to go before dinner.

“You sure you don’t need a lift there?” Kravitz offered for a final time, ready to summon his scythe at a moment’s notice. Taako kissed his cheek, one foot halfway out the door.

“Thank babe, but this is a boys’ trip. It’s really not even that far.”

Magnus didn’t miss the way Merle glanced at Taako, doubt creeping over his features as he grabbed another potion from the kitchen.

It wasn’t a very long trip, that much was true, and Magnus tried not to be disappointed about it. They hiked from Taako’s house to the foothills of The Teeth. Stars lit their way after a few hours, and before they knew it, all three of them had stopped to look up and stare.

“Did you guys ever do this?” Taako had been pretty quiet for most of the traveling. Magnus knew the silence had been weird, but hadn’t pushed on it just yet. “I used to… when we were doing the whole freelance gig. I didn’t want you guys to think I was a space case.” He laughed, the thin wheezy kind that meant he actually thought something was funny. It made Magnus grin. “Guess we were all sort of spacey, huh?”

“I did too,” Merle admitted. “Never knew why. Pan was in the grass below my feet, not the stars above my head. But yeah, I did too.”

“Me too,” Magnus whispered. None of them had looked away from the stars. He remembered, when he first arrived at Raven’s Roost, being fascinated with them. They were so strange! He’d say. Because they were; these stars were brand new to him. Julia always laughed, but she taught him the constellations.

Without meaning to, Magnus’s hand gripped the red handkerchief wrapped around his neck. He felt Taako’s gaze leave the sky, watching the tension in Magnus’s joints.

“Let’s make camp,” he suggested. And so they did. No tents needed, not when they’d been on the road for work, and not now, when the idea of blocking the stars was impossible to consider.

Taako was already awake when dawn broke. Magnus watched him cook, just for a bit. The simple stuff they shared on the road was still better than most taverns Magnus had been to, but Taako never cooked like this anymore. The eggs, just a little overcooked in the way Magnus loved, were just like the last time Taako made them, when the three of them were struggling through the Felicity Wilds.

“How much further, old man?” Taako asked as soon as he saw Merle’s eyes open. Merle grumbled, not quite awake, but tossed a map in Taako’s direction. He spread it out and Magnus peered over his shoulder. Slender, elven fingers danced across the parchment and Taako muttered too quietly to hear, even right next to his face.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Magnus asked and Taako scoffed.

“I was shocked you were so eager to go questing for unidentified magical objects again.”

“UMO… Doesn’t sound as good as UFO.”

Taako laughed, wheezy and light.

“Guess we were kind of a UFO, huh?”

“Yeah,” Taako’s laughter died down, barely speaking in a whisper now. “At least I’m not the only one who thinks this alien shit is weird.”

The silence stretched between them again as Taako went back to the map. He still hadn’t answered Magnus’s question.

“Julia–” Magnus started and Taako immediately went still. “She, uh.” The rest of the crew knew bits and pieces. Lucretia probably knew better than Magnus himself did. But only Merle and Taako really understood how hard it was to talk about before-and-after like this. “She would have loved it, ya know? Marrying an alien? So cool.”

Taako was quiet for a long time, unmoving. Magnus started to fidget. “You would have liked her, I think.” He barreled on. “She would have laughed at all your jokes. Fighting spirits, the both of you.”

More silence, until it was almost unbearable. Then Taako spoke. “She sounds great. Would have loved to meet her.” His voice was hollow, but Magnus knew he was sincere. He gave a nod and left Taako with the map while he packed up the last of their supplies. Merle got up as the sun climbed higher in the sky and the three of them set out. They were mostly silent; not much needed to be said in the early hours. Taako led the way for the better part of an hour, map still in hand, before he spoke up.

“It’s a type of moss.”

“What?”

“The thing we’re looking for. Merle needs this special moss.”

“For that ritual you were doing in the dining room.”

Taako nodded. He looked to Merle, but only received a shrug.

“For the ritual he was doing to keep you from dying,” Magnus clarified and Taako stopped walking.

“How…” He started but Magnus just shrugged.

“You’ve been weird for a few months now. Since Wonderland.”

“Well we’ve all been fucking weird since Wonderland!”

“Taako,” Merle cautioned but Taako waved him off.

“No, really, aside from getting my memories shoved back into my skull, how have I been weird?”

Magnus clenched his fist but didn’t rise to the bait. He pointed to the wood umbrastaff. “If you let go of that, are you going to fall over?”

“What!?” Despite his rage, Taako still shifted his stance. Magnus heard Merle smack a palm to his face, but didn’t pay attention to him.

“Taako, I’m asking you as a security officer. Why the fuck are we hiking two days away when you’re in pain?”

“I’m not in pain! I’m fine!”

“That’s how you’ve been acting for months, like you’re totally fine, but none of us are fine!” Getting frantic wasn’t the answer, but Magnus had too many questions to remain calm. Everyone had been so serious about no longer keeping secrets, Taako most of all, and yet Magnus was totally out of the loop? He might not be a magic user, but he was still part of the family. He was supposed to keep them safe. He couldn’t be calm about the idea that Taako might be in danger. “And now you’re telling me we need magic moss to keep lich magic from killing you? Are you actually dying?”

“I’m not going to–” Taako shifted his weight again, but this time to point the umbrastaff at Magnus.

“Holy shit, Taako, I know you don’t want to talk about this but–”

Scorching Ray blasted past Magnus’s head, slamming into the beast that had snuck up behind him.

“Security officer, yeah?” Taako grinned, anger melting away as the thrill of fight bubbled up. Despite the new danger, Magnus felt himself relax. He brought his axe down on the creature as Merle summoned some celestial force. It was an easy battle, but Magnus was pretty sure it wouldn’t be their last.

The creature was some sort of buffalo, judging by the horns and the wide ribcage. Reanimated, half bones and decaying flesh, that lay still now, more peaceful than it was when it attacked.

“Okay,” Taako was leaning heavily on the umbrastaff. The fight had been quick, he hadn’t even been hit, but burning those few spell slots took more out of him than he expected. “We need magic moss to keep lich magic from killing me. Walking two days away has absolutely sucked, but I want to be there when Merle finds the moss so we can perform the ritual as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the worse I get. Happy?”

“Actually, yes.” Magnus grinned and Taako knew it was nearly impossible to be mad at him. Yet Magnus’s expression faltered. “Well, not about you getting worse. That’s awful! But we’re friends and you telling me is–”

Taako stopped listening. He poked at the bones of the buffalo with his staff. “Looks like some other creatures with bad luck need this moss too. Think you can manage to keep an eye out, security officer?”

Magnus gave a salute, the careless ones he used to give Davenport after the first few cycles, when he was their captain but formality had faded away in favor of becoming family.

The trio kept walking, free from any further attacks. Taako put away the map, pointing to the horizon with the staff. The mouth of a cave was nearly visible. As they approached, Magnus held up a closed fist.

“We are not fantasy black ops, Magnus,” Taako hissed, keeping his voice down regardless of how stupid he thought the hand gesture was.

Magnus gestured forward and they crept into the cave. Merle’s Extreme Teen Bible™ glowed faintly, illuminating a pair of eyes ahead of them. The eyes seemed to multiple, four then six then eight, until Merle cast Light on Magnus’s shield. A massive spider clicked its mandibles at them and Magnus broke the tense silence with a high pitched screech.

“Come on, big guy, it’s just a little bug,” Merle said, switching his bible for his warhammer. “You just gotta squish it.”

“That isn’t a little bug, Merle!” But Magnus still reached for Rail Splitter. While they squabbled, Taako was already casting. The cave illuminated with Fireball, flames licking the edges of the stone. The spider hissed as its exoskeleton crisped up, but it surged forward. It took a bite out of Merle and the dwarf only laughed. “I’m immune to poison, idiot!”

The spider, though not understanding common nor Merle’s amusement, was able to understand a massive hammer to the face. The sick squelch of bug guts did little to ease Magnus’s fear, making him gag instead. When the fighter didn’t move, Taako moved towards him.

“Close your eyes, we got this.” He leaned his weight on Magnus and fired a high level round of Magic Missile into the spider’s legs.

Magnus squeezed his eyes shut, keeping a hand on Taako’s shoulder, following as the elf moved and dodged as needed. The battle raged on for a few more minutes, and only when the sound of hissing and clicking ceased did Magnus hesitantly open one eye.

“Is it dead?”

“Keep ‘em closed, Maggie.” Taako put one hand on Magnus’s shoulder and the sound of fire roared through the cave again. “Okay, now you’re good.”

Instead of the crumpled husk of a massive arachnid, Magnus saw only a pile of ash remaining before them. The three of them waited a moment, listening for other necrotic creatures hiding in the dark, but there was only silence.

“I thought there’d be more of them,” Magnus said.

Merle just shrugged, walking deeper into the cave. He replaced his hammer with his bible. “That squishy guy must have been hoarding the moss for himself.”

“Yeah,” Taako agreed, “Eating anything else that wandered into its webs.” Mage Hand crept along Magnus’s neck and he shrieked again. Taako cackled as he dismissed the cantrip.

The cave sloped downward, but not much further. The darkness became thicker, muting even Taako and Merle’s darkvision. Only the light from the shield and the bible showed them the stone edges of the passage. The walls curved, forming a final circular room, and in the center was the moss.

It looked unimportant, for all the trouble they’d gone to for it. Just soft, gray-green moss in a clump on the floor. It seemed to be growing around some stalagmite, giving the moss a few feet of height.

“This is it?” Taako said. He poked at the moss with his umbrastaff, with little reaction. The moss sunk in against the weight but nothing else happened. No lights, no sparkle of magic. “Merle, I swear to Istus–”

Merle waved his soulwood arm at him and Taako took a few steps back. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at the moss. Merle frowned glancing up at the dark ceiling, then back at the plant. He opened his mouth and Magnus groaned.

“Merle, if you and the moss need some time alone, we’ll go.”

“Don’t listen to them, baby,” he crooned at the moss. “We’ve got nothing to hide.”

Taako made a gagging sound, sitting down on the floor and Magnus joined him. They did their best to tune out Merle’s whispers.

“Now this shouldn’t hurt a bit, sweetheart.” The moss seemed to swell in Merle’s touch as he cut away a palm-sized piece. He tucked away his knife and ran his soulwood hand along the cut, soothing the plant. “So good for me, so–”

“Stop it!” Taako shouted, lying completely flat on the floor now.

“Fine fine,” Merle threw a wink over his shoulder at the moss, which seemed to rustle in response, and he made his way over to Taako. “Oh, it’s actually good that you’re lying down.”

Taako sighed. “Great.”

Magnus didn’t think twice about taking Taako’s hand in his own. Taako squinted at him, but didn’t pull away. They’d gotten a little closer during their time at the B.O.B., occasionally collapsing next to each other on the couch in their high-ranking dorm. But it could never be the same as a century spent together. Magnus held Taako’s hand when Davenport pulled spikes out of his back from a particularly nasty encounter with Thorn Whip. Taako popped Magnus’s shoulder blade back in place, held him while he cried away the pain, when they were on a solo mission together deep in the forest of a new world. There were nights the whole crew curled around each other, keeping the nightmares of an endless storm at bay.

Julia used to make Magnus tea when he woke up in a panic. He could never remember why he was scared to begin with. She’d guide him outside and they’d sit on the porch together, learning the stars.

Magnus squeezed Taako’s hand. Taako squeezed back. He reached down, pulling up his shirt and transmuting his adventuring pants into sport shorts. The glamour flickered away, like TV static.

Merle looked at the stomach wound first and Magnus found his gaze following. It was better than he remembered- no longer a fresh bleeding gash from a massive piece of machinery, metal shards still twisted into it. But this was much worse than he’d grown used it. The smooth, tan skin was pale. The scar was dark and angry, twisting out with hungry tendrils around Taako’s waist. It looked painful.

Taako rolled his eyes. “Maggie, come on, it’s not that bad.”

Magnus, without really thinking about it, reached out a finger to poke it. Taako swatted him away before he could. “What is wrong with you!”

Magnus just shrugged and Taako broke into a laugh. “Ow, fuck.” He clutched at the wound and the laughter died. “Merle would you hurry it up?”

While Magnus had distracted him, Merle had drawn runes in the dust on the cave floor. A few different potions had been poured into a bowl, little bits of moss left in it after having been soaked. The moss was split in half, one in Merle’s hand, the other resting on his shoulder like a tragic excuse for a parrot. “Deep breath, okay?”

And Taako did. Magnus squeezed his hand again. Taako squeezed back. Moss was pressed against his stomach and that breath of air left him immediately.

No one would argue that Taako’s lowest stat was Strength. Before The Day of Story and Song, some people could joke it was Wisdom, but it was nearly impossible to even joke about that now. Still, even with what could have been a negative Strength modifier, Taako’s grip was painful. He was making a small sound and it took Magnus a second to realize he was just repeating “fuck fuck fuck” very softly.

“Not much longer,” Merle muttered between whatever incarnation he was speaking. It might have been Celestial, but it wasn’t Common so Magnus didn’t really bother with it. The seconds felt like hours, but finally Merle took the moss away. Taako gasped, tension that Magnus hadn’t even recognized leaving his body limp. The scar looked… Magnus guessed he could say better now. It wasn’t so dark, tendrils not so insidious looking. It was still there, but benign.

“The next two should be easier,” Merle said as he soaked the remaining moss in the bowl of elixir.

“Gods damn it,” Taako groaned, but squeezed Magnus’s hand. Magnus squeezed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally getting to the end, friends! I'm thinking there'll be about two more chapters. Thank you so much for your continued support and kindness, it means the world to me. I saw all your wonderful comments from last chapter and despite my delays in responding, please know how much I appreciate each and every one of them. You're all fantastic <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll add tags as I update but if you think of anything I should tag for, please let me know!  
> find me at castcharmperson @ tumblr dot com


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